Humans, or homo sapiens, are mammals, walk on two feet, are omnivorous, and possess opposable thumbs. We communicate, cooperate and construct new tools to aid in our survival. We build, we tear down, we change the environment around us to better suit our needs.

But that is not what makes a human… human.

What truly differentiates us from the beasts? There are other mammals. There are other creatures that walk on two feet. Other omnivores. Other wielders of opposable thumbs.

Animals communicate while hunting. Wolves will cooperate in order to take down large prey and then divide up the spoils. Chimpanzees have been known to use simple tools in order to obtain food.

Several people have attempted to answer this question over the centuries. Some have said that we are human because we are sentient, others believe that it is our eternal souls that define us.

I believe that these are two valid beliefs.

I, however, believe that we are human because of our ability to create.

A human can look at a landscape and see a city. A human can see shapes in a cloud of water vapor. A human can look at the world around them and think up something completely new.

Where do stories come from? Where do ideas originate? After coming up with a story idea, I often stop and ask myself where it might have come from. Perhaps I was inspired by something I witnessed. Perhaps I simply recombined several disparate ideas into one new one.

But every so often I find that I cannot answer my own question. A new idea. A spark of creativity. Spontaneous creation.

This power, this incredible ability to not only see what lies before us, but what could yet be, defines us.

If not for that mysterious power, we might still be sitting in our caves. But, because of this gift, one of our ancestors looked around at his world and decided to create something new. That action triggered a landslide of world changing thoughts. Can I somehow tame fire? Can I somehow fly in the sky? Can I somehow leave this planet? People, time and time again, looking at their world and deciding to bring in something new. Fire, flight, space travel. None possible without a spark of creativity.

Creativity is a gift, a blessing, a power without limit or restraint. Do not let it fester. Do not let it wallow. Do not let it die.

Look around you. What do you see? Are you content with what lies before you? Is your world complete?

Look again. Do you see what could be? Will you be the one to make something new? Will you change the world?

Do not misunderstand. I do not ask you to write a novel. I do not ask you to pen a poem. I do not ask of you to do what I do.

I ask of you to do what you can do. Create a new song, a new invention, a new language, a new game, a new anything. Look inside your mind, find that special place filled with all things creative, and let those thoughts out into the world.

You might just be surprised by what you make.

So, to summarize, humans are creative, creativity is a gift, and gifts are meant to be shared.

The only notable thing about humanity is that we think that we are notable.

Today’s story is a Sci-fi space epic in the vein of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Regular readers will notice that I like to change genres and types quite often, which I believe encourages creative thinking and forces you to think in new and productive ways.

As always, if this or any other story idea inspires you to write, or if you wish to take my idea further, a small acknowledgement would be great!

And so, without further ado, here is “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”:

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star tells the story of The Aethon, a starship carrying the last remnants of humanity. Three months earlier, Earth was rendered incapable of sustaining life due to an unexpected hypernova originating from Eta Carinae (more specifically from a massive Gamma Ray Burst created during the stellar event).

The Aethon was a privately owned ship constructed to serve as a luxury touring vehicle for a wealthy businessman. Unfortunately, the ship was unfinished and the majority of features were left out. Only a few thousand people (those who were constructing The Aethon in the low orbit shipyard when the hypernova arrived) made it safely aboard and escaped the destruction.

The large majority of human survivors live in cryogenic stasis, with a small crew in charge of keeping the ship on course (heading towards the nearest potentially habitable exoplanet). The captain of this crew is Samantha Collins, a tough and jaded widow who lost her husband to the hypernova.

Everything seems to be going well with the voyage, until problems start appearing and people begin to disappear without trace. Samantha initially suspects her untrustworthy second in command, Dirk Davidson, who has been acting strangely (he is the son of the businessman and was at the shipyard for an inspection), leading to Samantha having him locked up.

Without warning, a strange blue star appears on the horizon, which seems to move towards them rapidly. As it grows closer, Dirk acts more and more erratically, eventually escaping captivity.

As the star comes within range, Dirk is found to have armed the neutron core of the ship for ejection. Samantha races to stop the core from firing at the star, which would cause a massive supernova. Just before she disarms the core, her husband appears and explains that the star is a world trying to be born, and that it needs help.

He then reveals that Dirk has misunderstood his instructions, and that he has attached a mini-nuclear reactor to the core, which will contaminate the star if it hits. Samantha and Dirk have a final showdown in the engine room, which ends with Dirk dead and the nuclear reactor destroyed. However, the ejection tube is damaged in the explosion, forcing Samantha to manually fly the ship into the star.

As the ship impacts, the star-being is born and immediately uses its immense power to recreate the solar system (using Samantha’s dying thoughts of home), with the diminished star becoming the sun.

Samantha is reborn on the untouched Earth, along with everyone else from the ship. Her husband appears and reveals himself to be a projection of the star creature, who had waited a very long time for someone to help it hatch (the star served as an incubator but lacked the energy to kickstart the birth. This energy was provided by The Aethon).

The creature disappears and tells Samantha to take care of the new Earth (it is implied that this new Earth is our Earth, as Samantha remarks that the creature only gave the Earth one moon instead of two).

Thanks for listening! The next story idea is “Chaos Becomes You”, look forward to it!